- Author: Ben Faber
So, this image comes across with the question of what is going on. It's a grapefruit, but what is going on with the leaves? It's happening to two grapefruit side by side or two different ages. It's not affecting other citrus nearby, and not a grapefruit several hundred feet away. Nothing like insect damage. It's not a nutrient deficiency because it's not following a clear pattern. It doesn't look like a chimera, which is common in citrus, because it's only a few outer leaves. It doesn't fit the pattern of an herbicide. It wouldn't be a contact or a drift spray because is both veinal and interveinal, and not strongly one or the other, so it's not consistent with a soil-applied herbicide either.
A plant pathologist and an herbologist (weed specialist) both asked if there had been a change in light -Different light exposure or more drought stress. Was a nearby tree removed or somehow the tree got more exposure than previously? Citrus Specialist, Peggy Mauk, nailed it, though. She said this type of coloration is characteristic of ‘Star Ruby' grapefruit when it is water stressed. And this can occur when the tree is more exposed to wind or light which is what happened here when a nearby hedge was pruned. The other citrus being less affected by such obvious symptoms, although probably stressed, as well.